Experience
by YuGiOhRox
Summary: Birthday fic for lemerly. Lucy is in love with Gray, she just can't stop thinking about him, but getting too into those sorts of thoughts can cause some big trouble... GrayLu


**Experience**

 **Birthday gift for lemerly and me hoping she still likes GrayLu… Characters might be pretty OOC in some places… First time writing it so I hope it's okay…**

I couldn't exactly help it okay. Who _wouldn't_ like him that way? I suppose Juvia was right when she called me her 'love rival', seeing as I'm so madly in love with Gray Fullbuster.

I don't know exactly when it happened, I've never felt this before, I just know that one day I woke up and he was all on my mind. Making breakfast, I thought of Gray, walking to the guild and I thought of Gray! Whenever a cold wind breezed in, Gray is on my mind. I feel like Juvia, like I'm obsessed; maybe I am…

I buried my head in the pillow with a bright red face, I almost couldn't believe what I'd become! _'Deep breaths Lucy, deep breaths.'_ I managed to calm down and get out of my bed, changing into my usual clothes and whipping up some breakfast. It tasted bland but it gave me enough energy to think that I could make it through the day without doing anything stupid.

*/*\\*

Okay I was wrong. Everyone on our team went on a job and of course, Natsu destroyed a whole lot of stuff; Gray destroyed a whole lot of stuff and Erza destroyed a lot of stuff trying to get Natsu and Gray to stop breaking things. It was a little funny, but all that energy I thought I had this morning was completely gone. Wendy, Carla and Happy were sitting next to me and talking about some random stuff while I sat there watching my guildmates go overboard. The two Exceeds and Wendy mentioned something about going to get ice cream, asking me if I wanted any. I didn't, but I thanked them for asking as they went off to buy it while there money wasn't going towards immediate repairs of the town.

The onslaught of Erza onto Natsu and Gray was breaking more stuff than usual this time, next time I needed to go on a job I'd take Wendy and Carla and sneak away. I was going to be _so_ far behind on my rent this month… While thinking about the troubles I had with my apartment and life in general, I didn't notice a counterattack from Natsu meant for Erza. The flames hit a thatched roof somewhere near me but everyone was too busy to notice, until the peoples inside started shrieking and running away. That was when I saw the fire had spread, burning house after house down as the flames rushed towards me; I was in shock as I felt the heat getting closer, too surprised Natsu's flames had gotten so out of control.

Of course everyone rushed to deal with it. Erza requipped into her Water Empress Armour and Natsu went over to see if there was anything he could do. Gray was doing something strange though, the look in his eyes was frantic and worried as he ran over to me, casting his ice spells to put out some of the fire. I heard shouts from Natsu and Erza but couldn't completely hear what they were saying over the roar of the nearby flames, I think I may have heard Wendy shrieking something too… But all of a sudden, I just heard this blood chilling cracking noise and looked up to see a part of the house falling towards me. On instinct I reached for my keys but my arm just seemed to be moving too slowly… And that was when I felt cool hands pushing me backwards and flipping me over so I was resting on someone's stomach. My eyes screwed shut as we skidded across the floor, knocking into a few things as I felt strong arms wrap around me and hold me close. Another bang and we stopped, marking the moment I opened my eyes to see Gray with blood on his forehead, his shoulders and back scraped and bloody from where he'd been pushed onto the concrete and from where my legs were positioned on top of him, his ankle seemed out of place; I could only hope it wasn't broken.

I knew my eyes were wide, I could feel them watering from how open they were, and of course from the sight of my teammate so hurt. I wouldn't recognize my other teammates' voices until much later as they ran towards us.

He groaned underneath me, his arms falling onto my back more from letting the muscles relax and his head fell back onto the ground. I slid onto the floor next to him, seeing that yes, his ankle _was_ broken. I gasped sharply, wondering how Gray knew that was going to fall on me, otherwise why would he have been running directly towards me… he hadn't been looking… had he?

If my face wasn't so pale I probably would have blushed at my own ridiculous thoughts, but for now I just wanted to make sure he was okay. "Gray? Can you speak?"

He grumbled a bit, and made no move to get up – sensible of him – before he was able to properly reply. Well, sort of. "Lucy? Are you okay? You didn't get hurt did you?" If he wasn't already hurt, I'd have slapped him for not worrying about himself more. I think I could see bone from his arm; that was something that needed to be worried about!

"I'm fine you idiot." Terrific, I was on the verge of crying, not a good thing to do, it just left you feeling horrible afterwards with a clogged up, sore throat and puffy eyes.

"That's good. I was worried…" My heart jumped and I only really heard how weak his voice sounded after a minute, the blood pumping through my ears was so loud, I'd kept my eyes on him though, so even through my blurred teary gaze I could see his eyelids slide shut. It was scary; if he was hurt more than he looked I'd never forgive myself. Wendy got to us shortly after that and insisted on healing him, he didn't look _as_ bad after that and Erza carried him to the train while Natsu checked to see if I was alright.

"I'm fine Natsu, just a little worried…" It didn't surprise me all that much when he said he was too.

*/*\\*

After our team had taken Gray to three hospitals and Porlyusica, his ankle was going to get better and was set in a cast but the skin that had been peeled off from scraping against the ground was infected. Porlyusica had managed to get it a little better but he was still banged up, his arms and most of his back was wrapped up in bandages but with the help of Wendy he should be completely better in a week at the most. I managed to stop myself from sighing in relief too heavily so I could see the looks on my comrades' faces. Erza was thankful but now that she wasn't worried, she had time to get angry at Natsu. Poor guy. He'd looked happy Gray was oaky before he started running away from the Titania.

It was Wendy's bright beaming smile on her tired face that affected me the most though. I could almost see a resemblance to Gray in it. And yes, I knew that sounded silly but the expression was similar to Gray's when he'd saved me; he had always looked so grateful and relieved. Tired too, now I knew Happy over exaggerated my weight all the time but it got me wondering if maybe… NO! I was too cute. If I weren't so sleepy from worrying about Gray all this time I'd have gone into my sparkly vision…

The 'excitement' from the last two days of looking out for Gray caught up to me and I barely noticed slumping into my chair, eyes fluttering as I fell asleep.

*/*\\*

When I woke up it was to the sight of Gray sitting up in bed at the guild, me in another across from him. My guess was Natsu and Erza had brought us here and I idly wondered where they were.

"Natsu and Erza have already been here to scold me for getting so hurt." My head whipped around from wherever I'd begun staring to look at him. He was smiling at me and I was suddenly incredibly glad he was on the other side of the room; blushing was always so embarrassing!

"Well that saves me having to do it." It felt good to joke, despite the state he was in. The smile on his face was enough to prove that.

"I guess so." Still smiling. At her. _'Calm down Lucy, he smiles at everyone in the guild like that, except maybe Natsu… You're not special. It has nothing to do with_ that _.'_ And that was exactly when Juvia came running in.

"Oh my beloved Gray! I was so worried when I heard you'd been hurt!" She instantly wrapped her arms around him, being careful of his injuries and not even pressing down hard. Gray was lucky someone like Juvia loved him, she was a great person and of course he'd love her back. That hurt me a little but I managed to keep a poker face; at least it managed to get rid of my blush.

But suddenly Juvia was glaring at me. "It's all love rivals fault! If she had just paid more attention, she wouldn't have had to be rescued, and then you wouldn't have gotten hurt!" The guilt hit me hard. I'd thought it was already, I'd felt bad already; this stung a little, but I knew she was only worried. Juvia was a nice person, but everyone felt irrational things because of the silliest occurrences.

"It's not her fault Juvia, I could have done something differently and not ended up so hurt. It was all pretty quick; I think we were all a little bit in shock." My eyes widened and I stared at him, mouth agape. He was looking at me, his attention not on Juvia at all and he was staring right into my eyes with a small smile on his face. I'm pretty sure my heart jumped a little and I guess Juvia had a sense for this sort of thing because she glared at me again.

"I'm actually feeling a little tired Juvia, could you please go for now? I'll talk to you later." An almost blinding smile appeared on her face as she ran out of the room, eager to comply with her beloved's wishes. And that left me and Gray alone together in the room, he was still smiling at me and I was currently a whirlwind of emotions.

"I really am glad you're okay Lucy." The bad weather of my heart calmed down, leaving only the happiness to shine through. "Could you come over here, please?" I nodded, I wasn't injured. I'd probably only been brought here because I was asleep.

I was by his bedside, that gentle smile still on his features for me as he moved one of his arms and wrapped it around my waist, pulling me close as he whispered. "I'm glad you're okay." His head fell back against the pillows, still smiling, as he drifted back into sleep. I was incredibly grateful; I hated anyone seeing my face so red.

*/*\\*

After that I'd gone downstairs to tell everybody I was ok, the amount of relieved sighs was heart-warming and the tackle hug from Levy was nice, her tears soaking into my shirt as she sobbed.

"I'm so glad you're alright Lu! Please don't worry me like that again!?" I promised, though we both knew that with the jobs I got dragged along on, that was probably going to happen again. I'd never switch teams though; I don't think it would have felt right to do so. And I couldn't exactly leave Wendy with Natsu if she would want to stay on…

Levy dropped her arms, smiled up at me and ran back over to her book, likely studying some ancient language or reading about the history of something. Gajeel was sitting on a table nearby, his eyes trained on her and I smiled. Those two were so obviously interested in one another, it was a little annoying seeing how dense they could be to one another's feelings though… No matter, it could also be kind of cute.

I walked outside for a breath of fresh air, thanking my guildmates for their words of how glad they were I was okay as I walked past. The sun hit my face along with a sharp wind, a perfect contrast of warm and cold. Cold. Gray. I hated how my thoughts always seemed to drift to him, not that I minded thinking about him, it just made it hard to focus on anything else. I stayed out here though, thinking about him and allowed a small blush to spring up on my face as I remembered his touch as he hugged me, cool breath in my ear as he told me was glad I was alright. And even though everyone else had said the same thing to me just then, it could never have sounded so perfect. Never could have been as joyful as it was, coming from him.

Head in my hands for a moment, I walked home; going to wash and see if the hot water could do anything in the department of distracting me from my currently Gray-centric mind.

*/*\\*

A bath and a quick meal later I was feeling refreshed and too relaxed to think about anything whatsoever. Until I got to my living room, where Juvia was, apparently sulking. My usual reaction came and I started yelling.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?! GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!" As soon as I got a good look at her face I felt sorry for what I'd said, she looked heartbroken. Now that my irritation had gotten off my chest, I immediately went into 'comforting friend' mode. I took a seat beside her at the table and rested my hand on her shoulder, rubbing my thumb in circles over the skin to try and soothe her. "Juvia? What's wrong?"

"It's just the sting of being in love with someone who doesn't love you back." That came as a shock, why would Gray not care that way for Juvia? If I were male, I'd probably love Juvia! Just… why…? I didn't feel as sorry as I should have; instead some of the empathy I should have felt was hope. If the situation was reversed, Juvia would likely be thinking, 'Yes! One love rival out of the way!' just like I was.

"Well, did he tell you this? You can't really know unless he's told you himself." She shook her head and I felt maybe a little happy for her, she could still have a chance. I _would_ focus on my feelings for my friend, not for me and Gray; I could do that much.

"He hasn't, but I just _know_." Tears were gathering in the corner of her eyes and I instantly pulled her into a hug, my hand rubbing her back in comfort as she started sobbing into my shoulder.

"That's pretty silly of you Juvia. If Gray hasn't told you to your face then you can't be sure." I felt her hair tickle my neck as she shook her head, so insistent on disagreeing.

"I am. I spend all of my time watching him Lucy. And I know that there isn't really a point because the one _he_ looks at like _that_ isn't me. It's never been me!" She started muttering something and I struggled to hear her for minutes through her sobs, until I made out the words 'love rival'. I swear my heart stopped for a moment. I was the one Juvia called love rival. I was the one who Juvia 'knew' was in her way to Gray. I was the one Gray looked at…? No. I wouldn't believe it, not until something was said to me from Gray himself. Otherwise my head was going to be filled with all these ridiculous thoughts of Gray loving me.

I'd focus on getting Juvia to feel better now, because nothing would break my heart more than a member of my family being upset.

*/*\\*

The day passed quickly, Juvia had left my apartment still a bit teary but with a small smile on her face from talking to someone. She wasn't moving on from saying that Gray was in love with me. Her last argument was telling me that after looking at someone with love heart eyes for so long, she knew what to look for when they were looking at someone the same way. I still thought it was silly, but maybe because I didn't want to dare hoping she was right… Life was confusing! I'd seen her out to the door and went back up to my home, planning on having a bite and falling asleep, ready to try and earn rent money tomorrow.

But of course I just _can't_ go into my own house without a member of my guild being there! It was only Natsu this time, like usual, trying to sneak into my bed with Happy. I yelled and glared, he compared me to Erza, Happy made a snarky comment about my secret stash of sweets, I yelled a little bit more, Natsu laughed, we all calmed down. I wasn't even sorry that this was my daily routine now. We started talking about random things for ten minutes or so before Natsu brought Gray up.

"He's different. And it's not just because he's grown up, he's… weird around you Lucy."

No. No no no no no no! Not this, I couldn't handle this, if this was going to turn out to be something like what Juvia had said, about Gray's feelings…!

"W-what are you saying Natsu?" My hands were folded on my lap and my eyes seemed permanently directed to them. At least while I was looking down like this, only Happy would be able to see me blushing.

"He's just weird, he looks at you funny." Of course, I can always trust Natsu to be oblivious…

"He liiiiikes you!"

…And Happy to be on point with his annoying little comments. Stupid cat.

We didn't talk more about 'Gray being weird' but Natsu was looking at me strangely for a minute there before huffing, like he'd given up on something. Conversation turned to Gray's injuries and Natsu venting about how he really was sorry because it was his fault and then suddenly realizing what he was saying and beginning to shift blame onto Erza. It wouldn't matter in a day or two, a bill would come and we'd all have to pay our share towards repairs of the town.

*/*\\*

A month went by and after my talks from Juvia and Natsu; I started seeing Gray's looks. They were definitely weird, but not in a normal sense. If anything, they were a little like how Juvia had described them, but not nearly as intense as she believed them to be. I talked to Levy about it – when Gajeel wasn't around; pesky super Dragon Slayer hearing! – and she agreed to look at Gray for some time to check. She'd been dubious about it at first, thinking I should just straight up talk to him about it. But after seeing my blush and how awkward I felt about that (I also may have brought up something about her talking to Gajeel about certain stuff) but for a week she watched Gray's face and reported to me that it was pining. I didn't believe it at first, almost wanted to forget everything about this in-case we were all misinterpreting it and I ended up looking stupid and feeling hurt. And while I thought I was being really silly, I just couldn't bring myself to confront him about any of this yet…

Another week went by and things were the same, except the nagging I got from everyone to talk to him, even if Happy couldn't keep a secret, I'm glad he at least managed to restrain himself from spilling the beans to Gray. But Erza and Mirajane had found out and now I had a happy matchmaker trying to get me to confess and Erza breathing down my neck about all of it; she honestly got too excited about these sorts of things; I hope Jellal would be nearby soon.

It was Wednesday when I finally told him and he admitted he liked me as more than a friend; not quite at loving me yet but he said he wanted to try. I knew that I'd never been as red as in that moment. I slung my arms around his neck and pulled him down to kiss me, there were no fireworks or magical explosions. Nothing dramatic at all apart from the cheering from the guildmates who were spying on us. But I still got lost in it, there weren't flickering lights and no dramatic music played but there was warmth and there was Gray. Gray who I loved, who liked me back. Gray my boyfriend.

*/*\\*

"'We kissed for several moments before coming apart for breath, not quite realizing how long we'd stayed together while we were so caught up in the moment.'" And that was where the story ended as Levy finished murmuring the final words on the page. At that moment Lucy walked into the guild, hand in hand with her boyfriend and eyes immediately coming to rest on Levy who was holding her book. A smile came onto her face as she pecked Gray on the cheek and ran over to sit by her friend.

"So what did you think of it?" She was twiddling her fingers nervously, anticipating and dreading the response from her fellow bookworm.

"This is the book you gave me to read, the one you said you hoped might be published someday?" Lucy blushed and looked at her lap, seemingly focused on the fingers she was fiddling with. She nodded after a while though and Levy continued. "Well it's very good, I like it, just one thing." Lucy's head whipped up, all of a sudden keen on taking constructive criticism for her work. "This is your diary Lu." She held it up and offered it to the blushing blonde, a small smirk on her face.

"Oh and one more thing, 'bad weather of my heart'? Really?"

"Levy!" The hissing of her name seemed to amuse the smaller girl for a moment as she thought of a comeback.

"Well to be fair I'm being very nice considering you wrote about me and Gajeel! I can talk louder if you want?" They were both smiling and both having a good time until Natsu came over from a fight with Elfman, having been hit with his magic flames still raging in his fist. Suddenly the table was on fire and Levy was thankfully quick enough to grab their things and get them away from the table as it caught light.

"NATSU!" Lucy was almost relieved to hear her boyfriend shouting as a spell of ice cooled down the table and stopped any flames from spreading. "You idiot!" And they were fighting, of course they were. And obviously everyone else just _had_ to join in; Lucy grabbed her friend's hand and scampered over to the bar where Mirajane was ducking behind the counter.

Just another experience to remember.

 **I hope it was okay… and that I got the date right…**


End file.
